He looked like Raymond Carver, but with modern, rimless reading glasses perched on the end of his nose. His brown hair\u00c2\u00a0 combed neatly back from his furrowed brow which looked ready for spring planting, like mine. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d stopped in at our local auto parts store for front brake pads for the Mazda, and I carried this funny collection of bills from our trip to Aruba. Hundreds, fifties and lots of singles.<\/p>\n
“You want the knock offs for thirty or original equipment for seventy?”He asked.<\/p>\n
“What’s the difference?”<\/p>\n
“Maybe ten thousand miles.”<\/p>\n
I chose the cheaper pads and I gave him a fifty. I said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Can you use ones? I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d like to get rid of all these so I can sit down again.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I’ll take all you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve got.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ray\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lookalike replied.<\/p>\n
As he pulled change from the register I dealt those dollar bills into a neat stack and laid them on the counter. He didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t watch me, he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pay much attention at all, and when he asked how many I said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Twenty.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
He picked up the pile and dropped them in the singles slot in the register and handed me a twenty.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Give or take three or four.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I said.<\/p>\n
He smiled.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not from around here, are you?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m from Oregon.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Same as Carver, I thought.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153How did you know?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153You didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t count those bills.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I trust everyone.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d He said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
He looked like Raymond Carver, but with modern, rimless reading glasses perched on the end of his nose. His brown hair\u00c2\u00a0 combed neatly back from his furrowed brow which looked ready for spring planting, like mine. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d stopped in at … Continue reading